Colorado Avalanche right winger Mikko Rantanen of Nousiainen, Finland registered his ninth career National Hockey League hat trick on Wednesday. He accomplished the feat in a 4-2 Avalanche win over the Los Angeles Kings at the Ball Arena in Denver. This was a natural hat trick as Rantanen scored the last three goals of the game.
Rantanen’s three goals
Rantanen tied the game at two from Cale Makar of Calgary, Alberta with three minutes and 53 seconds left in the second period. Rantanen then scored the game-winning goal at 10:01 of the third period from Nathan MacKinnon of Halifax, Nova Scotia and Logan O’Connor of Missouri City, Texas to put the Avalanche up 3-2. Rantanen then closed out the scoring with an empty net goal from MacKinnon and fellow Finn Artturi Lehkonen of Piikkio, Finland with one minute and 59 seconds left.
Eight Prior Hat Tricks
This was Rantanen’s second hat trick of the season as he also scored thrice in the Avalanche regular season opener, an 8-4 Colorado loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on October 9. Rantanen’s other hat tricks came in a 4-0 Avalanche win over the Montreal Canadiens on February 7, 2017, in a 5-2 Avalanche win over the New Jersey Devils on January 4, 2020, in a 6-2 Avalanche win over the Nashville Predators on November 27, 2021, in a 6-3 Avalanche win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on November 4, 2022, in a 3-2 Avalanche win over the St. Louis Blues on December 11, 2022, in a 6-2 Avalanche win over the San Jose Sharks on April 6, 2023, and in a 4-3 Avalanche win over the Blues on March 19, 2024.
Rantanen in 2024-25
Rantanen has a NHL high 12 goals and 13 assists for 25 points in 17 games. He is a +3 with 14 penalty minutes, nine power-play points, three game-winning goals, 54 shots on goal, 35 faceoff wins, 11 blocked shots, six hits, 13 takeaways, and 16 giveaways. With the win, the Avalanche have improved to a record of nine wins and eight losses for 18 points and are in fourth place in the Central Division.
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